COURSE DESCRIPTION [JSU Catalog]: "202. American Literature II.
Traditions in
American Literature from the late
nineteenth century to the present. Readings include
Henry James, Mark Twain, and selections from the twentieth and
twenty-first
centuries. 3
credits."

PREREQUISITES: Successful completion of EH 102.

Disability Accommodations Statement: Any individual who
qualifies
for reasonable accommodation under The Americans With Disabilities Act
or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 should contact the
instructor
immediately. Civility Statement: All students are expected
to attend class fully prepared with appropriate materials and all
devices
which make noise turned to the off position (e.g., cellular phones,
pagers,
personal stereos, etc.). Any student behavior deemed disruptive
by
the professor will result in expulsion of the student from the
classroom,
with an absence for the day and possible disciplinary action. The Professor Expects that you follow standard protocols of
classroom behavior, abide by the JSU Student Handbook, and conform to
particular
requirements of assignments and class discussion as announced.

About electronic cheating: All forms of personal electronic communication devices
must be out of sight and in the power off mode for class and testing periods.
During a testing period in class, any use of a personal electronic communication device, without the prior
consent of the instructor, constitutes prima facie evidence of academic dishonesty
with no right of grade appeal. If the instructor observes the device, the presumption is that
cheating has occurred and a grade of F (zero) will be assigned to that exam, quiz, etc.

OBJECTIVES

To
understand the various factors contributing to the
development of traditions in American Literature since the Civil War.

To
understand and evaluate how an established canon in
literature is formed, reformed, challenged, and expanded; specifically,
to read
the long established canonized writers against those writers recently
rediscovered and newly reconsidered, with particular emphasis on women
and
minority writers.

To
develop critical skills in responding to
literature, to be able to write critically and personally about the
literature
(and the different genres of literature) in ways that demonstrate
understanding
and appreciation for the variety of interpretations that literature
invites.

To
appreciate the ways in which an understanding of
American literature is relevant to cultural values; where appropriate
to study
the relation of a literary or dramatic text to the film adaptation of
that
text.

To develop critical skills in responding to literature, to be
able to
write critically and personally about the literature (and the different
genres of literature) in ways that demonstrate understanding and
appreciation
for the variety of interpretations that literature invites.

For
Education Majors, SDE objectives which apply to
this course are as follows: 7.a.2;
7.a.7; 7.a.10; 7.a.11; 8.a.1.ii; 8.a.1.vii; 8.a.1.viii; 8.a.1.ix;
8.a.1.xi. (All rules with 7 as the
opening number refer to English, Class B (grades 7-12). All
rules with 8 as the opening number refer
to Language Arts (Class B, grades 7-12). Students
who are not Education majors can ignore the numbers. Even though
the stated objectives overlap
with those stated above, the specific SDE objectives consist of:

To
familiarize students with regional and ethnic
dialects as expressions of cultural diversity (7.a.2; 8.a.1.ii)

To
present examples of late 19th century and
contemporary American literature, including works by female and
minority
writers (7.a.7; 8.a.1.vii)

To
suggest several theories and methods of literary
analysis (7.a.8; 8.a.1.viii)

To
exercise students techniques of critical thinking,
questioning, and problem solving(7.a.10;
8.a.1.x)

To
participate in speaking, listening, reading, and
writing activities within small groups (7.a.9)

ATTENDANCE POLICY. Cutting class is strongly discouraged.
Because
discussions, writing exercises, quizzes, and in-class assignments are
graded
or prepare you for graded work, cuts will likely affect your grade. The
departmental attendance policy for this course mandates that you attend
at least 75% of classes to receive a passing grade. Unlike composition
courses, there is no difference between excused and unexcused absences;
but if you miss two or more classes in a row, I consider it courteous
and
part of your responsibility as a student to speak to me about what you
have missed and whether there is a need to make up work. There is no
"Withdraw
Passing" from the course allowed after you have exceeded your limit of
7 cuts (For classes meeting twice a week, 8 cuts = automatic F). Even
though
tardiness and leaving early are not officially counted as a partial
absence,
understand that it is extremely discourteous and rude. When you have
unavoidable
reasons for arriving late, leaving early, or otherwise attending the
class
sporadically, please inform the instructor ahead of time. Whenever in
doubt,
make sure to verify your record of attendance. Tests and major
assignments
can be made up only at the discretion of the instructor (have a
legitimate
excuse for failure to attend on days when a major assignment is
scheduled).
I always drop the lowest quiz grade, and may offer an occasion
at
the last class to do a makeup quiz (a different assignment) to improve
your quiz average. Otherwise, quizzes and class work for quiz grades
cannot
be made up. Exceptions made only in unusual circumstances.

REQUIREMENTS. To receive a passing grade of 60, you must
complete
all units of the course (tests 1 and 2, the final exam, and your class
report grade--likely a triple-weighted quiz)
with an average of sixty or above.

Occasional critical reading or source material, placed on
reserve (or
handouts and Internet access). Depending on the focus for the critical
paper, there may be additional texts or critical works you are expected
to consult.

EVALUATION:

Quiz and class grade, the average of graded
class work,
including short written responses (some prepared reports, some
on-the-spot).
The short factual quizzes that test reading and basic knowledge cannot
be made
up nor taken at alternate times, even with legitimate and
school-related
excuses. You will be allowed to drop one of these short answer type
quiz grades (either
the
lowest or one you missed). In addition to these weekly quizzes,
there will likely be quiz grades assigned to short essays and reports,
including reports on films viewed. More details will be
forthcoming.
If you have scored poorly in two quizzes at Midterm time, you should
speak
to me. Quizzes cannot be made up, but with an approved excuse, some
alternatives can be arranged. The average
of all but lowest quiz = 25% of Course Grade.

FINAL Exam (see below for schedule), 25%In
both Tests on specific Volumes
and on the Final, ample options in selections for essays and formal
graded
work
allow students to focus and plan personal approaches to questions.
Short
answers test basic knowledge. Expect the short answer section of
the Final Exam to be comprehensive, including knowledge of readings and
authors from Volumes C, D, as well as E.

Notice:
Please be aware that the Department of English has access to
powerful software that scans and detects unauthorized documents that
are submitted to your instructor. Use of such documents
constitutes an admission of academic dishonesty.

Keep these dates that are on the Academic
Calendar in
mind:January 12: Last day to register or add a courseJanuary 19: Last day to
withdraw/drop and receive
80%
refund on tuitionFebruary 2: Last day to withdraw/drop and receive
50%
refund on tuitionMarch 3: Date by which professor files Midterm
GradesMarch12: Last day to drop/
withdraw (no
signature
required)April 9: Last day to withdraw passing or drop
without
academic penalty (You must have a
signed-by-the-professor
drop slip: you can find me in Stone Center JSU campus on this day)

SYLLABUS. Unless otherwise announced, it is best to
have the
entire work read on the day it is first due on the syllabus. I
will
have sometimes very brief remarks on the next reading as part of my
leadup
to where it is placed on the syllabus. Please note that there will be
specific
assignments connected to the reading as quizzes. Use the index to
locate authors. I will announce pages and specific titles (and will
likely post to Blackboard). You are expected to know what is
announced, even if you miss class.

Week 14. Tuesday, April 13. Reports to the class: Poet or
Film adaptation of play or novel. All written reports for presentations to class are due on the 13th at classtime.

Tuesday April 20 no class
meeting. Office hours may be announced for grades and return of
papers.

Final Exam
is 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday April 20th, in
the
classroom. Access the document from web, Exam schedule, near end of term.

GENERAL GUIDELINES: I participate in a
Teaching
Inquiry Community at JSU. Its purpose is to share teaching strategies
and
generate communication to other teachers from classroom-based research.
For this reason, I may retain selected written work in order to quote
from
it. Before doing so, I will first request permission from any students
whose work I anticipate using. Assume that all anonymously collected
evaluations
might also be quoted.

My quizzes tend to vary a great deal in
format.
You should always be prepared for a rigorous quiz that tests the basic
content of the works--keeping characters straight, knowing the plot;
understanding the strategies, form and possible interpretations of a
poem--on
the first day a work is listed on the syllabus. Depending on your
schedule, some of you may be invited to do viewing of a film not
covered
in class or background reading, with a report to the class averaged as
an additional quiz. Occasionally, there may be unannounced
quizzes,
which may take the form of open-book exercises, short essays,
discussions,
or reports on group work. I drop the lowest quiz, then average the
remaining
grades for 25 % of your grade for the course.

Information that comes from a CRITICAL source
must always
be properly introduced and identified. This includes SparkNotes,
Cliff
Notes, electronic resources, and all other guides to the aurthors
and their. It
is academic dishonesty not to give complete credit to your source,
whether
or not the idea is directly quoted. This course is not designed to
require
a great deal of critical scholarship, but I expect that those who do
want
to make use of, refute, or expand on interpretations of the works by
previous
scholars will check with me to make sure that they are using proper
methodology.
NOTE WELL: The instructor respects student individuality and innovative
interpretive strategies. Group work and class discussions aim for the
most
populist/democratic discussion: all students encouraged to contribute;
those monopolizing discussion time will be asked privately to moderate
their vocal responses. You are expected to maintain academic standards,
to turn in only original work, and to properly credit all sources not
your
own. This class is designed to properly train and assist you in doing
so.
You are expected to comply with the JSU Student Handbook with reference
to all issues including code of conduct and academic dishonesty.
While Web resources on material covered in the course are in abundance,
you must be aware
of disinformation sites, weigh the quality of the material, and accord
proper credit, even for plot and character summary sites. The
professor
may recommend supplemental reading on the web, to which links or
printout
will be supplied; and she will assist in proper documentation of web
sites
that are relevant for class study. (A review of MLA citation syle
is built into the course. When in doubt, ASK.) She will not
tolerate abuses of copied or altered information presented as the
student's
own work. Whenever a grade dispute, an attendance record dispute,
or other issues of decorum arise, your FIRST responsibility is to
arrange
conference with the instructor.

I will distribute detailed guidelines for the
report at
a later date. ALL PAPER AND PROJECT
TOPICS
and all make-up assignments MUST BE PRE-APPROVED.